Richard Wright: Piano God

I love the piano, that's no secret if you've read any of my past posts. Richard Wright, the piano and organ genius behind Pink Floyd, perhaps summarizes exactly what I love about the instrument. Its simplicity. Its ability to sound as though it takes little effort to play, yet it takes every muscle in your brain and hands to agree with each other and move separately yet simultaneously. Wright was perfect. 1 listen through "Dark Side of the Moon" and you can't help but notice how beautiful his piano playing was.

Check out "The Great Gig in the Sky" on "Dark Side," or especially "Us and Them." Richard actually wrote the piano part in "Us and Them" for a violence sequence in the 1970's film "Zabriskie Point" by Michelangelo Antonioni. Ironic huh? It's odd how something so beautiful was written specifically for a scene showing killing, blood, and war. The music is stunning. However, Antonioni felt as though the piece was "beautiful, but too sad." Interesting. Isn't violence sad?

So, thank you Antonioni. Because it didn't make the film, the song was then used on "Dark Side" and it became "Us and Them;" one of my favorite tunes on probably my favorite record of all time.

Below is the actual audio of Richard Wright recording the track in the studio in 1970 for the film, along w/ some stills. Wright passed away in 2008 unfortunately. He is a true legend.

David Sides : "Halo" (Beyonce)

Do I still need to praise the piano? I mean, seriously. Let's just let David Sides show you what I've been talking about this whole time. Music is made up of two cornerstones...the melody (vocals, the part we all hum to) and the rhythm (background-make-my-feet-move-stuff). Together, these cornerstones support the building structure which we all call the "song." I have an idea, why don't you play both the rhythm and melody at the same time and I'll shut up and go have a beer. Thanks, David Sides.

This guy has like 100 videos on YouTube, covering everything from Coldplay to Kanye...interpretation at it's finest. Reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of Jimi Hendrix' "Little Wing." No need to sing when the instrument does it for you.

Cheers.

Tyler Hilton : "Use Somebody" cover (Kings of Leon)

Piano is the most pure sounding, spine chilling, hair-stand-up-on-arm elements of music, outside that of our natural voice of course. However, the two are basically identical if you look closely. If you open up the top of a piano you'll see strings and these felt looking "hammer" things that are triggered whenever you hit a black or white key. That's really all it is. The strings are like our vocal chords and the felt triggers the note we're singing.

Put these two together and you can make any pop song sound like a true ballad. Tyler Hilton shows this perfectly with his mellow cover of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. Musicians out there take note...stop using so many effects on your instruments and just play the damn thing. There's a reason why the instrument was born before the effect pedal and the delay moduler. Chicken or egg?

Cheers.